76th INFANTRY DIVISION
ONAWAY

THE 62ND AND LAST REUNION OF THE 76TH INFANTRY DIVISION ASSOCIATION WAS ENJOYED BY ALL AS THE LAST HOUR OF THE LAST DAY OF THE FINAL REUNION GREW CLOSER. SADLY THAT MOMENT ARRIVED ALL TOO SOON.

I AM THANKFUL TO THE 76TH DIVISION ASSOCIATION FOR ACCEPTING ME IN 1999 AS AN ASSOCIATE MEMBER IN HONOR OF MY GREAT UNCLE, PFC HOLLIS A. CLOYD, WHO WAS KIA 2/25/45 SERVING WITH THE 304TH INFANTRY REGIMENT. HE IS MY PERSONAL HERO, NOW ONE OF MANY. MY WIFE AND I WERE ABLE TO ATTEND 5 OF THE LAST 9 REUNIONS, AN OCCASION WE LOOKED FORWARD TO EVERY YEAR.

AS WE WATCHED OUR NEW LIST OF FRIENDS BECOME SHORTER EACH YEAR, IT WAS ALWAYS A REMINDER OF THE FAST APPROACHING "FINAL REUNION". AN OCCASION WE EXPECTED BUT STILL DREADED. SINCE OUR FIRST REUNION IN 1999, I HAVE LOST TWO CLOSE FRIENDS AND CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS SITE. FRANCE Q. COOK, G-304, AND MOST RECENTLY, LTC JAY M. HAMILTON, I-304.

I WILL CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN THIS SITE I CREATED IN HONOR OF MY UNCLE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, TO REMIND EVERYONE OF A GREAT DIVISION AND OF THE GREAT PEOPLE WHO MADE IT THAT WAY. I AM MOST GRATEFUL THAT THE SITE FOUND 76TH VETERANS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS WHO NEVER KNEW OF THE REUNIONS. MANY OF THESE MEN AND/OR THEIR FAMILIES WERE IN ATTENDENCE AT THIS FINAL REUNION. THIS AND THE AWARENESS OF THEIR SACRIFICES, IS MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT IN THIS WEBSITE.

TO ALL: ONAWAY!!

GERALD BROWN, Webmaster
14 JULY 2008

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS FOR THE LEAD UP TO THE LAST REUNION OF THE 76TH INFANTRY DIVISION.

A note from LTC (Ret) Robert M. Donahoe about upcoming reunion.

29 November 2006

Dear 76'er

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm writing to give everybody a "heads-up" on the last Reunion of the 76th Infantry Division. We made this decision at our September reunion in Charleston, WV. Our last Reunion will be held in Washington, DC from the period of 25-28 October 2007. We will use the Crowne Plaza at Dulles Airport as Headquarters.( The room rate will be $84/night. Kudos to Jim Barrett for finding this place as rates downtown are prohibitive.

Your committee consisting of Helen & Ray Gill, Jim Barrett, Rudy Garza and Paul Turner is working hard to integrate some different ideas in order to make this the special occasion it deserves to be. We will be going to Baltimore on one day, visiting the WWII Memorial and laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery on another day. Other ideas are under consideration and are presently being pursued. We'll know more in the Spring and we'll publish all the details in the next edition of "Onaway" which you will receive by first class mail in April.

On behalf of our Committee we wish everyone our best for the Holidays. Stay healthy for 25-28 October 2007!

The Sixtieth (60) (and sadly the last) Annual Reunion of the 76th Infantry Division Association will be held from 25-28 October 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport Hotel right outside of Washington, DC. The hotel is located at 2200 Centerville Road, Herndon, VA 20170. A very large mall with many restaurants is located just across the street. The Hotel will provide complimentary shuttle to and from Dulles Airport which is just 2 miles away. They will not provide this service from Reagan Airport. There is no charge for parking for those of us who will be driving.

Jim Barrett is serving as "lead scout" for Washington as he lives in nearby Reston, VA while Paul Turner is helping us in Baltimore. Our program will be a "work in progress" right up to October as we are looking to add some options. We will be going to Baltimore, probably on Friday, where we"ll have lunch on our own, with options to visit the Constellation Frigate, Science Center, National Aquarium, and do some other sightseeing. We'll be in town for about 3.5 hours. Each person will pay their own expenses on the trip. We anticipate a trip to Ft. McHenry prior to return to the hotel on Friday afternoon. We will visit the World War II Memorial in Washington on Saturday as well as visit other well known Washington sights culminating with laying a wreath at Arlington Cemetery on Saturday Afternoon. The annual Banquet will be held on Saturday Evening in the hotel ballroom where we anticipate some special entertainment that Ray Gill is working on.

We have a block of rooms reserved at the Crowne Plaza at a group rate of $84.00 per night plus a 9% tax which equals $91.56 per night. The cut-off date is Thursday, October 11 but we hope you will make your reservations as soon as possible. Check-in time is 3 PM and checkout is Noon. Reservations can be made by calling the Crowne Plaza directly at (703)471-6700 or (800) 972-3159. Kindly indicate your banquet preferences and any seating preferences on the coupon marked "Dues and Reunion Tickets Slip".

Those going will receive a letter from me in mid-September indicating directions to the hotel and other details.

"Elliott Carr Cutler Jr.
Age 86, Brigadier General (Ret.), died early Monday morning at Country Rehab & Nursing Center in Newburyport.
He was the husband of the late Genevieve (Spalding) Cutler. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 15, 1920, he
graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1942. As a Regular Army Officer, he served
during World War II and the Korean Conflict. After receiving his doctorate in electrical engineering from
Georgia Tech, he became Professor of Electrical Engineering at the United States Military Academy, retiring
as a Brigadier General after 35 years of military service. During his long, accomplished lifetime, his happiest
times were always with family. His survivors include his son, Elliott C. Cutler, III, and wife Wendy, of Ipswich;
his daughter, Genevieve Names, and husband Gerald, of Salt Lake City, Utah, five grandchildren, one
great-grandchild, and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services and interment at West Point will be private
for the family. There will be no calling hours. Arrangements are by Elliott, Woodworth & Rogers Family Funeral
Home, 35 Green Street, NEWBURYPORT."Published in the Boston Globe on 11/29/2006.

My association with the 76th Infantry Division has been very brief. I first contacted the Association at the end of 1998. Since that time I have become very attached to it. As an Associate Member, in honor of my Great Uncle PFC Hollis A. Cloyd, I attended the reunion of the 76th Division in Nashville, TN in September 1999. It was a wonderful experience meeting the men of the 76th Infantry Division, and to feel their pride in this great Division. My wife and I returned in 2000 when the reunion was held in Louisville, KY, in 2001 at Fort McCoy, WI and again in 2002 in Denver, CO.

My intentions on this website are to provide a source of information about the history of the 76th Infantry Divison. Also, to provide a source for study and review of a defining moment in American history. This information is too valuable to forget.

76TH DIVISION INSIGNIA

"Sometimes referred to as the "Liberty Bell Division", no research has confirmed this as an official name, rather the Division has always been known to us as the 'ONAWAY DIVISION'. The Division Insignia is an escutcheon which has a red field & a blue chief, separated by an olive drab line. A three pronged white device is superimposed on the blue Chief. The white device was a medieval English heraldic symbol meaning 'FIRST SON'. In World War I the 76th was the first Division of the National Army to be drawn from Civilian ranks through the draft, hence the insignia and the description, 'THE FIRST SONS OF THE NATION'. The combined colors of the field, the device, and the chief are the National colors (of red, white and blue). 'ONAWAY' is the alert cry of the Chippewa Indians, in whose hunting grounds the 76th Division trained. The official Department of the Army Heraldic Description is: 'A shield with a 1/8 inch green border 2 3/4 inches in width and 2 9/16 inches in height overall blazoned: per fess enhanced azure and gules a barrulet enhanced vert, in chief a label, a symbol of cadency, denoted that the division was one of the first National-Army Divisions.'" Courtesy of "Order of Battle, U.S. Army World War II" E.T.O. Divisions, Paris, December 1945 and Armies, Corps, Divisions & Separate Brigades, compiled by John B. Wilson Center of Military History, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C. 1987, and courtesy, "Fighting Divisions, Histories of Each U.S. Army Combat Division in World War II", by Chief Warrant Officer E. J. Kahn, Jr. & Technical Sergeant Henry McLemore, Zenger Publishing Co., Inc., Box 9883, Washington, D.C. 20015